Sorry this has taken so long hopefully my life will slow down a bit and I can make this a more regular type of thing.
Jack sat in the saddle and looked at Marion. He could see she was about to cry and that was not something he had seen since she was an emotional teen. He was trying to gather his thoughts and say the right words.
"Honey, we will just have to figure this out. We have till Friday, and a lot can happen between now and then."
Marion sat there looking at her father.
"You have always been the optimist as long as I have known you…" she smiled little absentmindedly. "I have never been able to tell if something is really bothering you. I know when you are angry and when you are frustrated with things in life, but when it comes to something like this, that involves family, I have never been about to read you. It makes me wonder if you ever see the negative side of the things? Dad, that is only - counting today - four days from now, less than 96 hours… There is no way we are going to get the money together - or even find enough to make a big payment so maybe the bank will maybe give us a little more time. Don't you understand; I have cost you your ranch - your life!" she was getting more and more concerned.
"I told you before; you and the girls are my life. True, I would not be happy any place but here on Heartland, and so we will figure this out. Now, come on; we have some cattle to check on and then we need to get back to the house and map out a plan of attack," Jack replied as he rode up bedside Marion he leaned over and gave her a big hug. Marion melted into Jacks arms and lay her head on his shoulder. She appreciated the gesture as she had carried the weight of her decisions alone for years now. Telling Jack and seeing him accept her despite her mistakes made her feel a little easier about everything for the moment anyway.
Jack then turned his horse and started off to check on the cows with Marion following silently behind.
"Come on, slow poke! The sooner we get to the upper pasture, the sooner we get home," he said.
After they had finished the check, the pair headed back to the house and Jack asked Marion if she had come up with any ideas about where to start. She looked at him and realized he had used the trip to the field to think about their situation, while all she had done was wallow in self pity, so she just shook her head. She also was coming to the realization that even with all his wisdom, Jack was also without a plan for the situation they were facing and now she was really afraid.
As they topped the hill looking down on Heartland, they saw Amy and Ty headed out to check the fence.
"I wonder how she got him on a horse… Figured they would take the truck and come at it from the other side of the ranch," Jack said as he watched them ride towards the woods. As they disappeared into the trees, Jack turned to his daughter.
"What made you want to bring that boy to Heartland? I know you have a thing for trying to fix horses that are broken, but this is a human being and I am not sure that it will work the same with him."
"I don't know, Dad. I am not sure why I even went to the home in the first place. Maybe it was to watch the kids who really have problems, so I could feel better about my current situation…" Marion said.
"And just what is your current situation? Is there something else you want to tell me about?" inquired a now very curious Jack.
"Amy is a good girl but she is also a teen, and sometimes I find myself clinging so hard to her because I did not want to lose her like I had Lou. I was afraid of it and last night she confirmed it; I was driving her away instead of growing closer to her. I have never gotten over Lou leaving and I needed to know that I was not the only Mom who had children with problems. So I went where the kids had real problems, where their parents - well, at least I told myself that - were the cause, they had failed so bad that these kids had ended up behind bars. Dad, some of them were even younger than Amy…
I remembered how we had helped Scott and so I started the paperwork to help someone again. I had planned on it being a girl this time, someone who maybe Amy could bond with. The paperwork was approved and I went to the center to pick the child I wanted, but none of the girls had really peaked my interest. But I was determined so I was going to pick on and have them finish the paperwork for her. Then I was going to tell you and Amy and we would have all come to pick her up.
When I had gone other times to watch the kids, I saw Ty and observed him in situations where he was justified by the rules of the center to not have gotten involved in scuffles. Instead he chose each time - knowing that he would probably get in trouble - to stand up for those not strong enough to stand up for themselves. I was there the last time he got in trouble and watched it all, and when I heard them threatening to send him to prison, I made the decision to bring him to Heartland instead of a girl like I had planned. Because it happened rather quickly, I did not have time to tell you. I wish you could have met him under different circumstances, Dad, I really do, but I feel he is a good kid."
"I don't want to tell him yet, but I think he might be a pretty good kid as well. You know Amy has already taken a liking to him, are you okay with that?" Jack asked matter of factly.
"What are you talking about? There is no way she could be interested in him so soon, is there?" replied Marion a concerned look on her face. This was not something she had even thought about - well, she had, and that was the reason Ty was supposed to have been a girl.
"You were a bit blindsided by the whole Jesse deal as well, weren't you?" Jack pointed out. "Okay, so you are not the most observant Mom, but you have always been good with people and are usually a pretty good judge of character. Well, that is except for the man you married…"
"Dad, I don't need to go there with you right now," said an exasperated Marion. She was still trying to come to grips with Amy seeing anyone in a romantic way, let alone two of them.
"I am sorry, honey. I guess I am starting to get angry at him all over again. At least you could have gotten child support from him. Maybe we can find him and get all that back pay he owes you and it will help us now…"
Marion's mind was brought back to the present with the words her father had said and she began to be upset with him for continuing his talk about her ex-husband.
"No, Dad. When you kicked him out and I allowed that to happen, I told you that we had to cut out all contact with him. That meant that we would not seek child support, and so I have no idea where he is nowadays, and even if I did, I would not approach him for child support for children he has not seen in ten years."
"That was his own fault - he should have never have hit you! He is lucky that I only kicked him out and did not beat him within an inch of his life thought I really I wanted to. But I decided against if mostly because you were standing there and you had already suffered enough from violence in your life. I made a vow right then and there I would protect you from Tim in every way I could but I would never use violence to do it. "
"I will never get over how beautiful this place is," said Marion, her arm over the view in front of them, as she tried to change the subject. "Right now that is all we should be thinking of and I have to tell Amy about this as well. I don't want Ty to spill it, she would never forgive me."
"What could Ty possibly tell her?" Jack asked. "He does not even know about Lou or this problem… does he?"
Jack could tell by the look on his daughters face that Ty might have known before he had.
"You let that kind of information out to a con?! What were you thinking, Marion?! Or should I say you were not thinking. Just how much does he know?"
"First of all, he is not a con, he is a young man who has made a few mistakes, just like the old one sitting there all smug on his horse. So, to answer your question; all of it. I did not mean for him to hear it, but he was in the truck and overheard the banker talking to me. Then I was overcome with it all and I just started talking. In a way it would affect him as well as he would probably have to leave if the bank took the ranch away from us - or even part of it. I could tell by the look on his face that he was wondering how all that could have happened, and the next thing I knew I was telling him how it all came to be. So he knows it all; the debt problems, why Lou left - at least from what we suspect was the cause, anyway. Yes, I know I should not have told him any of it, but it just came out and he was a good listener. He never asked a question. Now I see how wrong that was, and I don't want Amy to find out any of it from him."
"I see you now feel after all this time you are finally going to share everything with Amy about Tim as well?" Jack asked.
"I am not sure, but I think now that Ty knows it would be better that I did. I don't think from what I have seen of Ty that he would tell her, but Amy is very perceptive and if he hints about anything, she will do her best to pry it out of him - and we both know how persistent she can be," Marion replied.
"We better get back to the house. We need to talk over what and how we are going to tell Amy. I pray that your perception of Ty is correct and Amy does not know anything when she gets back, or there will be hell to pay and we may lose the second daughter," Jack shared his thoughts on what was yet to come.
The thought of losing Amy as they had lost Lou had always terrified Marion, and now she had put herself in a place where she had to tell her - even though as Jack had said it might cost her her other daughter.
…..
"Wow! That is a beautiful purse," Lou was complimented by her friend, Nicole, as they sat down on the table by the busy street. Mackenzie, who had just walked up with the fourth member of their group, Lauren, nodded her head in agreement as she admired the beautiful brown handbag that had the new smell and impeccable feel that only the good designer purses had.
"It should be! I mean, it cost Carl $500.00 dollars after all." Lou told them as they sat down to have lunch near their New York office.
"Woah! Wish my boyfriend would give me something that nice…" said Lauren who couldn't get her eyes off of the new accessory.
"He wanted to celebrate my promotion and this purse was his present to me," replied Lou, smiling as she couldn't have been happier with the way her boyfriend was pampering her.
"Ooh, and what did he get in return?" chided Mackenzie, giggling.
Come on, Mackenzie… What we do in private is private…Lou said with a smile that told them all they wanted to know. They all then had a good laugh at Lou's expense.
"So what do you and Carl have planned for the weekend?" asked Nicole, setting aside her green smoothie after taking a sip.
"I don't really know for sure. I think I heard Carl tell someone he wanted to go away somewhere, but I want to go the theater. But I know whatever we decide we will have fun," Lou added so that she wouldn't sound too demanding in front of her girlfriends.
"You two are getting pretty close lately. Seems that we never see one of you without the other. And you hardly ever go out with just us girls like you used to," said Nicole, pouting playfully. "We're beginning to miss you, Fleming."
"Yes, I know," she said apologetically, but then quickly changed her tone as she had exciting news to tell her friends. "We have been doing a lot of talking as well, and I am hoping that he will pop the question soon! He was talking about getting a place together. Now that I have my promotion we could afford a really nice place together."
"Maybe that is why he wants to get away this weekend! Maybe he has a romantic getaway planned," exclaimed Lauren. The other girls joined her excitement by making high pitched noises.
"You could be right", said Lou, lowering her voice, "he has not told me yet where he wants to go and he always asks me before he makes any plans like going out of town. The more we talk about it, the more I think maybe I will come back next week with something else new to show you!" She brought her left hand next to her head and jiggled her ring finger enthusiastically, hinting the possible engagement
"Speak of the devil! Here he comes", said Mackenzie as the man just happened to walk past, also on his way to lunch., "Hey, Carl!" she she waved and tried to get Lou's boyfriend's attention.
The man stopped when he heard his name and noticed four familiar faces behind the fence of the restaurant.
"Hello, ladies. Spreading the daily gossip, are we?" he guessed playfully as they barely had time to do that at work but when these four were together they were always up to no good, in a good way.
"Yep, and you were the gossip. We were talking about you!" Nicole teased, knowing the guy would probably be curious as to what had been talked about.
"Well, from the look on Lou's face I was not alone in your gossip," he guessed and this caused Lou to now turn bright red as she didn't want to think she was oversharing with their co-workers. After all, she was supposed to be a professional.
"Besides why wouldn't you talk about us I just shared with the boys at lunch as well" Carl knew from the look and color of Lou's face he had struck a nerve and just wanted to mess with her a little bit more. "Guess we are going to be talk around the water cooler today" he said as i wave and continued on.
…..
As Ty stood up, he held out the reins as Amy just smiled and took them from him.
"I think the stirrups should be close enough to the right length for you to go ahead and ride Copper without changing the saddles," said Amy.
"Good," said Ty. "I am not sure I want to go through changing saddles at the moment. My pride has already taken enough of a beating today."
"Well, we will take it a bit more easy, and this old scooter here," she said patting Copper on the neck, "still has plenty of get up and go if that is what you want to do. But I would advise against it, at least for a while, anyway."
"I think I might listen to you this time," replied Ty as he brushed the grass on his clothes that he had pulled up on his little dismount. "We had better get going. Your mom and Grandfather are going to be back before we even get out of the yard."
Once they were both in the saddle, Ty looked at Amy and said "lead on". He fell in behind Amy as she headed out.
"How far do we have to go?" Ty asked as he began to see just how crazy his stunt had been. Maybe the fall had knocked a little sense into him as it started him to think, he had no idea of how far it was to where they were going - and maybe even more importantly where it was they were they going or how to get there.
"Just a mile or so I guess" was Amy's reply.
As they reached the tree line, Ty was beginning to feel a bit more comfortable in the saddle and with his horse, so he encouraged Copper to catch up with Amy and Pegasus. As he pulled up alongside, he began to speak about what he had been thinking since the ride home with Marion.
"Do you mind if I ask you a question about your sister?" Ty felt from what he had heard from Marion that they would need all the support they could get in this situation. He knew by the way Marion had spoken of Lou how much she missed her and her being away only added to the hurt she was already feeling about the loan and possibly loosing their home. She had mentioned that Amy was still in some sort of contact with her so that might be the only way Lou would know and hopefully would at least talk to her mom and… well he did not really know what he expected but he did not want to see this family hurting anymore.
"How do you know about my sister?" said a now curious Amy. Hearing her sisters name mention was something she was not used too. Ever since Lou had left for college their had been very little talk about her. When she took the job in New York it was as if she no longer existed to her Mom and Jack. Now a complete stranger was asking about her… Why?
"Your mom talked about her on the way home from town," was Ty's reply. He now wished he had kept his curiosity to himself, but since the cat was out of the bag, and he was seeing that he would have to proceed with caution.
"What did she say about her?" Amy asked in a very demanding voice.
Ty knew now that he had been right and wished he had never opened this conversation. Picking his words very carefully he began:
"She just mentioned that your sister had gone away to school and that she now lived in New York." He hoped that would satisfy Amy, but had a feeling that it would not.
"Why would she be talking to you about my sister? They don't even talk anymore… I am not sure when the last time she and Lou even spoke, or for that matter, communicated in any form."
"I overheard a conversation with someone in town and I asked her a few questions on the way home," he continued, again trying to give her just enough information to satisfy her and not break Marion's trust.
But Amy's interest was now peaked. She wondered what Ty had asked, and even more, what her Mom had said. She had tried to talk with her mom about Lou on several occasions, about why Lou had left and why she never came back or why they did not talk with her, and every time she had changed the subject.
Now she was talking to someone who had only been at Heartland for not even a full days about what she had wanted to know for years.
"Did she tell you why Lou left and stayed in New York? Or why she does not communicate with her daughter or her daughter with her or Jack for that matter?" Amy began to spit questions out.
Ty found he had to choose his words even more carefully.
"Your mom said that Lou had gone to New York to get her degree and then found a good job and stayed there," Ty stopped again, hoping Amy would stop this line of questioning.
But when he saw her getting ready to ask another one, he decided to change the flow of conversation by beating her to the punch and asking her a question.
"That is what I was going to ask you; why did your sister stayed away in New York and why they don't communicate anymore."
This time the tactic seemed to work, as Amy began to talk.
"I have my ideas, but no one will tell me for sure if that is the reason. But even if I knew, I am not sure I know you well enough to go talking about my family problems. I find it very disturbing that my Mom would talk to you about something that she won't even talk to me about. On top of that, I feel that there is more to this line of questioning than meets the eye and Mom has told you more than you are telling me."
"I told you earlier that I could not talk about some things and that is one of them, but I would like to ask you one more question."
"I reserve the right to give you the same answer you just gave me," snapped Amy"
"Fair enough. I just wanted to know how good your communications are with your sister and would she listen to you if you had information to give to her?" Ty asked.
"We actually talked this last Christmas on the phone the first time in a long while; I had not heard her voice in a couple of years. We had a nice talk and she just sent me this phone."
Amy pulled a cell phone out of her pocket with a note to call her anytime if I ever had questions or needed anything.
"I am not sure why I just told you that, and you had better not tell Mom or Grandpa I have this phone!" she insisted.
"I will not tell anyone, I promise. I would like you to do me a favor and talk with your Mom and ask her the questions that you just asked me. I hope that she will talk with you, and when she does, I would like you to promise me you will listen to all she has to say before you start to make any type of judgment. If you do, I know you will know why I asked if you were in communications with your sister."
"Okay, I will do that. But now we need to get across this stream ahead and fix that fence just on the other side,then head home as I want to talk with mom."
When they got to the fence, the wires were not broken and Amy told Ty all they had to do was staple the wires back to the post and they would be on their way home.
After a while, Ty had just put in the last staple when he heard something that made him turn to Amy. He listened carefully to make sure he had heard right.
"Was that a car I just heard..?"
Amy turned her head a little and said: "you heard a car?"
" Yeah. I thought you said we could not drive up here."
"We couldn't. There is a fence over there behind those trees. You would have had to walk from the road," she said, gesturing toward the line of aspen.
"Let's see. That is at most 50 yards or so to the trees…" Ty calculated. "How far beyond that is the road and fence?" he wanted to know.
"A ways," was Amy's reply.
"Define "a ways"."
"About 20 more yards," said Amy sheepishly.
"I went through falling off a horse not once, but twice, was humiliated out of my mind when we could have just driven here and only walked about 70 yards or so," said Ty in a very quizzical voice.
"Yep, I like to ride horses," was Amy's defense. "I think it is time we headed back to the house."
She quickly mounted Pegasus partly to move away before Ty could get hold of her.
"Remember how to get back to the barn?" Amy asked.
"Yes I do," said Ty as he put the hammer in the saddle bag and started to mount Copper.
"Good. I will see you when you get there," Amy said as she kicked Pegasus into high gear, hoping that she would give Ty time enough to think about it before he saw her again and the fire in his eyes would have subsided a bit.
Besides she wanted to talk to her mom before he got there.